Vidal Takes Joss Tour Season Opener

Joss Northeast 9-ball Tour / Waterville, ME
by Rick Davis
Starting the season off with a bang, Marc Vidal took the Joss Northeast 9-ball Tour by storm where he streaked through the billiard tour season opener to go undefeated. Taking place at TJ’s Classic billiards in Waterville, ME, a small but strong field emerged for the two days of double-elimination 9-ball action.
Late on the winners’ side Vidal met Mike Dechaine and defeated him 9-7 to earn his spot on the hot seat throne. Over on the one-loss side Larry McKenna ousted Tim Perry 9-7, while Chuck Altomare gained momentum in his hopeful comeback. Altomare, who took an early loss from Vidal in day one, tore through the remainder of the chart, eliminating tournament director Mike Zuglan 9-7, Ray McNamara 9-5, and then McKenna 9-7 in the quarterfinals. Cleaning up the chart, Altomare knocked out Dechaine 9-7 in the semifinals to earn a final crack at Vidal.
What was expected to be a tough match-up turned out to be a steamroller as Vidal swept past Altomare, this time drilling him 9-3 in a short half-hour beating. Vidal, a tour regular, walked away with a solid win and a great start to the season.

Open Results:

1st
Marc Vidal

2nd
Chuck Altomare

3rd
Mike Dechaine

4th
Larry McKenna

5-6th
Tim Perry

Ray McNamara

7-8th
Richard Young

Mike Zuglan

Van Corteza Victorious at Turning Stone Classic IX
by InsidePOOL Staff
Lee Van Corteza breezed through the final match at the Turning Stone Classic IX to become its new champion. The Turning Stone Classic was held August 16-19 at Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY.
After suffering his first loss of the event to fellow countryman Dennis Orcollo 9-6, Van Corteza went on a tear. He first delivered walking papers to Niels Feijen 9-3, only to go on to defeat Ralf Souquet. He then wreaked revenge on Orcollo in the semifinal match 9-2 to advance to the finals.
In the hot seat match earlier, Louis Ulrich was faced with the diminutive Orcollo and pulled off a 9-6 victory to advance to the race-to-13 final match. After the semifinals were over, Van Corteza was clearly in his element. He dominated the entire match, exhibiting great defensive play. When the score reached 12-2 in favor of Van Corteza, Ulrich wrested control of the table away and put a four-pack on his opponent. Unhappily for Ulrich, he came up dry on his next break. Van Corteza calmly ran the final rack, which included an excellent three-rail position shot on the 6 ball, for the win.
Photographer Mitch Heydt is providing an image gallery from the event. View the Turning Stone Classic IX image gallery (/gallery2/v/Pool+Tournaments/Joss_Tour/).

Results:

1st
Lee Van Corteza

2nd
Louis Ulrich

3rd
Dennis Orcollo

4th
Ralf Souquet

5-6th
Karen Corr

Niels Feijen

7-8th
Mika Immonen

Tony Robles

9-12th
Jimmy Jusman

Steve Moore

Mike Davis

Ronnie Wiseman

13-16th
Ed Abraham

Shane Van Boening

Thorsten Hohmann

Tony Chohan

17-24th
Ray McNamara

Jason McCaughey

Dave Grau

Mike Zuglan

Carmen Lombardo

Ignacio Chavez

Jose Parica

John Morra

Four Fall, Four Remain in Turning Stone Classic IX
by InsidePOOL Staff
Only four players remain standing at the Turning Stone Classic IX, being held at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, NY. This $25,000-added event began Thursday and will wrap up Sunday.
The first round of today’s play saw the undefeated Karen Corr match up with Louis Ulrich, a relatively low-on-the-radar player originally from San Diego but who now resides in Atlanta. Ulrich completely dominated their match, dealing Corr her first loss of the event 9-2.
In the other winners’-bracket match, an all-Filipino battle ensued between recent EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championship winner Dennis Orcollo and Lee Van Corteza. This match was closer than the Ulrich/Corr match, but still Orcollo prevailed, winning 9-6.
Niels Feijen ended Mika Immonen’s run at the event by ousting him 9-4, while Tony Robles was sent packing after Ralf “The Surgeon” Souquet bested him 9-5. In the next round, Souquet eliminated Corr, the only woman to ever win a Joss Northeast 9-ball Tour event, in an extremely lopsided match that ended 9-1. In the other one-loss-side match, Van Corteza sprang to life against Feijen and sent the Dutchman home 9-3.
Photographer Mitch Heydt is providing an image gallery from the event. View the Turning Stone Classic IX image gallery (/gallery2/v/Pool+Tournaments/Joss_Tour/).
Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.

Final Eight to Return Sunday at Turning Stone Classic IX

by InsidePOOL Staff

The top eight players remaining at the Turning Stone Classic IX will return Sunday to see who the best of the best is. There will be four players each in the winners’-side bracket and the one-loss side.

Mike Davis’s run was ended by Tony “The Silent Assassin” Robles, who defeated him 9-5. Before that, Davis had a spectacular match against the explosive Shane Van Boening. Up 8-4, Davis missed a combo, and Van Boening took advantage to bring it to a hill-hill score. Davis, however, recovered the table and won 9-8.

The rest of the final matches Saturday in the one-loss side were fairly lopsided. Ronnie Wiseman easily won his match against Eddie Abraham 9-3, only to face Germany’s Ralf Souquet in the next round, who handed Wiseman a 9-2 dusting. Souquet and Robles will match up Sunday.

Dutchman Niels Feijen, recently crowned Champion of Champions at the International Challenge of Champions last week, continues to destroy his opponents in the one-loss side. A narrow 9-7 victory over former world champion Thorsten Hohmann, and then Feijen eliminated Jimmy Jusman with a whopping 9-3 score.

Feijen’s opponent Sunday will be Mika “Iceman” Immonen, who has also survived some tough matches today. After ousting Tony “T-Rex” Chohan, Immonen went on to eliminate Steve Moore of Atlanta 9-2.
Louis Ulrich, also in Atlanta now, eked out a double-hill win over Allen Hopkins to face Shane Van Boening and send him to the west side 9-4. Then he advanced to deal Moore his first loss of the event, also 9-4.

Meeting Ulrich in one of the winners’-side matches is Karen Corr. Ranked number two on the WPBA, Corr has had a stellar event so far. She dealt a stunning 9-2 defeat to Carmen Lombardo, only to survive a close match with Jimmy Jusman, in which she won 9-7.

The other winners’-side match will be an all-Filipino match-up between Lee Van Corteza and Dennis Orcollo. Van Corteza, who was runner-up at the International Challenge of Champions to Feijen, bested Chohan 9-3 and then Tony Robles 9-2 in his final two rounds of the evening. Orcollo didn’t have it any easier, facing down Dave Grau 9-7 and then going on to send Ralf Souquet to the west side 9-3.
Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.
Photographer Mitch Heydt is providing an image gallery from the event. View the Turning Stone Classic IX image gallery (/gallery2/v/Pool+Tournaments/Joss_Tour/).

Davis Eliminates Archer at Turning Stone Classic IX
by InsidePOOL Staff
The drama continues at the Turning Stone Classic IX, as Mike Davis ousted two-time defending champion Johnny “The Scorpion” Archer earlier. Knocked into the west side of the bracket by Dave Grau 9-3, Davis went searing through the chart. He first eliminated Matt Tetrault 9-5, then went on to face down Archer 9-3.
“I used Johnny’s break to beat him,” Davis explained. “I broke really hard from the box and didn’t make anything, and then Johnny did a soft cut-break and made the corner ball two breaks in a row. So I stole his break and made the corner ball every time after that.”
According to Davis, Archer got a couple of bad rolls and left himself tough on the 9 ball at one point. Davis added, “Generally I played pretty good.”
Davis advanced to play Jose Parica and destroyed him 9-2. “Parica missed a couple of long shots, and I capitalized on those mistakes. I also broke really well, and one or two rolls went my way.”
Steve Moore continues through the winners’ side, wasting everyone in his path. After surviving a hill-hill battle with the recently crowned Champion of Champion, Niels Feijen of Holland, he went on to face Parica and bested him 9-6. His next opponent is Louis Ulrich, formerly of San Diego but now a fellow Atlanta resident like Moore. Ulrich’s last two matches consisted of dealing Mike Zuglan his first loss 9-2 and then advancing to play the young talent of Shane Van Boening, sending him west 9-4.
Karen Corr is also one of the undefeated players remaining. She survived a double-hill match with Christopher Biddle to match up with Carmen Lombardo, who she destroyed 9-2. Her next opponent is Jimmy Jusman, who has had several tight matches in order to reach Corr. He squeaked by Bruce Carroll 9-8, then eked out a double-hill win over Ronnie Wiseman.
Ralf “The Surgeon” Souquet sent fellow countryman Thorsten Hohmann to the dark side 9-6, advancing to meet Dennis Orcollo. The 2007 EnjoyPool.com 9-ball Championship winner dusted Dennis Hatch 9-2 and then came through with a narrow 9-7 win over Grau.
New York’s Tony Robles will play Lee Van Corteza in the next round. Robles earlier defeated Brian Brekke 9-5 and then handed a donut to Ray McNamara. Van Corteza notched wins over Mike Dechaine 9-6 and then Tony Chohan 9-3.
Photographer Mitch Heydt is providing an image gallery from the event. View the Turning Stone Classic IX image gallery (/gallery2/v/Pool+Tournaments/Joss_Tour/).
Visit InsidePOOL for the latest news in the sport of billiards and pool.